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Will Copper-Clad Aluminum (CCA) Building Wire Last for Decades?

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The Truth About CCA’s Longevity in Residential Wiring, an industry perspective from Greg Olsen at Copperweld

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — For over half a century, Copper-Clad Aluminum (CCA) building wire has been installed in family homes across the United States, silently demonstrating its long-term reliability and safety. Yet, despite CCA’s proven performance and growing adoption, outdated misconceptions — often stemming from confusion with past wiring materials — continue to fuel concerns that don’t align with its long-standing safety record. Year after year, test after test, CCA building wire proves itself as a durable wiring solution that continually meets product safety standards — both in the lab and in the field.

A 50-Year Track Record of Performance

CCA emerged in the 1970s in response to a copper shortage, offering a cost-effective alternative that maintained copper’s essential conductive properties. Unlike other wiring materials introduced during the same era, CCA’s unique construction addressed key concerns that had surfaced with alternative conductors like aluminum.

Aluminum wiring suffered from termination issues due to its inherent oxide layer (a dielectric), ultimately resulting in electrical fires. CCA’s innovative design sought to correct these issues by replacing the surface-oxide layer with a substantial layer of copper cladding, eliminating the termination concerns of aluminum wiring. This innovative construction allowed CCA to perform reliably in residential electrical systems for over 50 years, proving its long-term viability without the need for additional maintenance.

Building on its five-decade record of reliability, CCA NM-B cable has consistently passed rigorous evaluations from Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs), including Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Intertek (ETL). These independent certifications confirm that CCA NM-B meets or exceeds the requirements for use in residential electrical systems. These required tests verify conductivity, insulation performance, mechanical robustness, and thermal properties. This ongoing third-party validation assures builders, electricians, and homeowners of its enduring safety and reliability.

Insights from Electrical Safety Experts

This extensive history of testing and real-world validation is further supported by the experiences of seasoned electrical inspectors who have worked with CCA for decades.

Steve Conrad, a former Chief Electrical Inspector for the state of Colorado, has firsthand experience with CCA, dating back to the mid-1970s. Having wired hundreds of homes with CCA and later inspecting them, Conrad has seen its real-world reliability firsthand. Over the years, Conrad confirmed that he never encountered a single service call related to CCA wiring failures. His confidence in the material extends beyond his professional experience — he even lived in a CCA-wired home for years without a single electrical issue.

“In all my years as an electrician and an inspector, I’ve never seen any problems with CCA wiring,” Conrad stated. “As long as the installer follows typical best practices, CCA performs just as well as solid copper wire.”

Jim Davis, another seasoned electrical inspector with decades of experience in Florida and Oregon, echoed these sentiments. Having worked extensively in electrical installations and inspections, Davis observed that CCA-wired homes never required remediation during his tenure. “I had more service calls related to loose connections on pure copper wiring than on CCA,” he noted. “To the best of my knowledge and experience, CCA conductor splices and terminations installed using a code-compliant method provide a trouble-free life of service equivalent to that of copper. My own house, wired with CCA since the mid-1970s, is living proof.”

Their observations have been reaffirmed at the highest levels by federal safety agencies. CCA’s track record of safety was further validated in a 2022 letter from Andrew Trotta, Director of the Division of Electrical Engineering and Fire Sciences at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), confirming that no records exist requiring the remediation of CCA-wired homes. This federal validation reinforces what decades of real-world performance have already demonstrated — CCA building wire is not just a safe and durable copper alternative — it’s a time-tested solution for residential wiring.

Conclusion

Will CCA building wire last for decades? It already has. And it’s not just surviving — it’s thriving.

Backed by a half-century of proven performance, code compliance, and expert validation, CCA has earned its place as a trusted wiring solution. Builders, electricians, and inspectors continue to rely on it, reinforcing its value as a safe, cost-effective alternative to solid copper. And, those who work with CCA continue to affirm its long-term performance, dispelling outdated misconceptions with facts and firsthand experience.

With decades of proven performance, endorsements from leading electrical inspectors, and rigorous third-party testing, CCA has rightfully earned its place as a trusted, long-lasting wiring solution — a code-compliant copper alternative that will continue to deliver safe and reliable electrical service for generations to come.

Learn more about Copperweld building wire products.

Copperweld is the world leader in bimetallic wire and cable specializing in power, grounding, and signal conductors for building construction, power grid, utilities, communications, and transportation. For over 100 years, their mission has been to make the most reliable, sustainable, and innovative wire and cable products on the market. Copperweld’s metallurgical expertise and engineered solutions result in bimetallic products that enhance performance, extend service life, conserve copper, improve energy efficiency, and reduce theft incentives. Their American-made products are manufactured in the USA, and the culture of excellence and innovation that inspired them over a century ago still drives them today.

Sources:

Andrew Trotta letter: https://bit.ly/cpsc-cca-letter 

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SOURCE Copperweld

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Texas Athletics and McCombs School of Business Launch New Bevo Lab, Bringing Together Sports, AI and Analytics

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11 minutes ago

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October 23, 2026

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Dell Technologies, Google Cloud and SHI International join Texas Athletics to power a first-of-its-kind hub for sports intelligence, data analytics, research, and talent development

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — University of Texas Athletics and the Business of Sports Institute (BOSI) in the McCombs School of Business, in cooperation with Longhorn Sports Properties, today announced the launch of Bevo Lab, a unique collaboration that will serve as higher education’s premier sports intelligence platform and living laboratory—bringing together sports, technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to elevate human performance while expanding hands-on learning opportunities for students.
 

Joined by Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, and SHI International, Texas Athletics is building the premier sports intelligence platform in higher education, creating a standard of excellence that spans 21 intercollegiate teams and over 500 student-athletes. Bevo Lab will leverage AI-driven research and data analytics to deliver real-world solutions to help athletes and coaches become more efficient in their training and preparation while developing a pipeline of students with hands-on experience for sought-after careers in technology and sports analytics.

“With the help of our nationally ranked academic leaders and cutting-edge technology brand sponsors, Bevo Lab will become the global benchmark for innovation in sports AI and data analytics, making Texas Athletics the most data-driven athletic program in the country,” said Chris Del Conte, vice president and Folger Family Athletics Director at The University of Texas. “What starts here changes the world, and this vision will transform collegiate athletics. There is no bigger stage, no more powerful brand and no better time than now to lead in this new evolution of sports technology.”

Del Conte will officially announce Bevo Lab today at Texas’ Business of College Sports Summit.

Named for the university’s esteemed and powerful live mascot, Bevo Lab will be a part of BOSI, an academic and research center in McCombs that combines business education, on-field/on-court performance analytics, applied research, and industry participation. The lab will engage as many as 40 student researchers annually in managing the modeling and data projects under the direction of acclaimed sports data analyst, author, and BOSI executive director Kirk Goldsberry, Ph.D.

“The AI and emerging technologies provided by our industry partners will empower our students and researchers to deliver improved efficiency and increased speed in data analysis to boost performance and improve success,” added Goldsberry. “Bevo Lab will reinforce Texas as a leader in sports analytics and AI and will serve as the blueprint for the future of sports.”

Key innovations driving the Bevo Lab:

Bevo Lakehouse: A unified data warehouse that consolidates previously siloed sports-specific data such as game film and wearable technology into a single platform—starting with football, before expanding across all 21 varsity sports.Predictive AI & analytics models: Custom machine learning frameworks, including “transfer AI” for roster evaluation, designed to give coaches actionable insights for game strategy, scouting, and player development.Tailored front-end applications: Intuitive visual and natural language interfaces built specifically for the distinct daily workflows of athletes, coaches and athletic executives.Next-generation skills training: A hands-on program for UT students to gain AI skills and deploy live applications alongside athletic teams. Through a first-of-its-kind Google Public Sector ambassador program, students will also get to work directly with engineering teams, gaining high-stakes industry experience to launch careers in tech and sports analytics.

Dell Technologies: Powering a New Era in College Athletics

Dell Technologies is deepening its decadeslong relationship with The University of Texas as the premier founding sponsor and the Official Technology Infrastructure Sponsor of Bevo Lab. Building on a broad history of collaboration that spans groundbreaking research at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and technology innovation across Texas Athletics, Dell is providing the secure AI-ready infrastructure that powers Bevo Lab, enabling students, researchers, coaches and student-athletes to transform data into actionable insights, accelerate innovation and elevate human performance.

“Bevo Lab represents the next chapter in Dell Technologies’ longstanding relationship with The University of Texas and our shared commitment to innovation,” said Geraldine Tunnell, chief marketing officer, Dell Technologies. “By providing the secure, AI-ready infrastructure that powers this initiative, we’re enabling students, researchers, coaches and student-athletes to turn data into insight, accelerate innovation and unlock new possibilities for human performance. Together, we’re helping shape the future of sports analytics, research and education.”

Google Cloud: Pioneering AI Breakthroughs from Campus to Game Day

Google Cloud joins Bevo Lab as the Official Cloud Provider and Enterprise AI Provider, establishing a secure, powerful data foundation built for the future of collegiate athletic performance. By leveraging Google Cloud and Gemini, Google’s advanced multimodal, agentic AI, student researchers and athletic staff members can quickly unify vast athletic datasets to generate real-time sports intelligence. Google Public Sector’s Rapid Innovation and Specialty Engineering Teams will collaborate directly with UT coaches and students to prototype new sports technology while mentoring future sports and technology leaders. In fact, early collaboration with Google Public Sector has already introduced AI-driven workflows that save UT coaches more than 15 hours per week in game preparation, giving them critical time back to focus on strategy and player development.

“As a proud UT alum, I am thrilled to see my alma mater leading the charge at the intersection of collegiate sports, academic research, and artificial intelligence,” said Matt Renner, president and chief revenue officer of Google Cloud. “Bevo Lab will establish a new global benchmark for sports innovation, directly enhancing how the Longhorns will train, game plan, and compete on the field while providing a premier launchpad for the next generation of tech and sports analytics leaders. By putting our advanced data analytics platforms and Gemini models into the hands of UT students, coaches, and researchers, we are building a secure foundation for sports intelligence that will define the future of the industry.”

SHI International: Uniting Strategy and Integration for the Win

Founding sponsor SHI will serve as the strategic technology and solutions integrator of Bevo Lab, translating Texas Athletics’ vision into a secure, scalable technology architecture. Drawing on its deep expertise across IT infrastructure, cloud, AI and cybersecurity, SHI will orchestrate the partner ecosystem, ensuring multiple technologies across Bevo Lab operate as one unified platform for sports innovation that will evolve with the university’s athletic performance and provide research and workforce development opportunities for students managing the data analytics projects.

“For nearly four decades, customers have trusted SHI to bring together the right technologies, partners and expertise to build, manage and secure some of the world’s most complex IT environments,” said Jack Hogan, vice president of Advanced Growth Technologies at SHI International. “As the strategic technology and solutions integrator of Bevo Lab, we are thrilled to turn best-of-breed infrastructure, cloud, data, AI and security technologies into one trusted, scalable environment that enables Texas Athletics, coaches, student-athletes and researchers to achieve greatness on the playing field, in the lab, in the classroom and throughout their post-college careers.”

Strategic Collaboration Across Athletics and Industry

Longhorn Sports Properties, the Austin-based division of college media and technology leader Learfield, assisted in the development of Bevo Lab and secured its founding corporate sponsors.

“Bevo Lab is a cutting-edge collaboration that will make a tremendous positive impact on our coaches, our student-athletes and the university,” said Lucas Motta, vice president of Longhorn Sports Properties. “We are excited to lock arms with Dell Technologies, Google Cloud and SHI as leaders within their industry, and together we will help power Texas Athletics to even more championships while preparing our students for the new era in the tech workforce.”

Bevo Lab will be housed in Innovation Tower adjacent to the UT campus and in the heart of Austin’s Innovation District. A dedicated microsite that details Bevo Lab and its research will be available at texaslonghorns.com/bevolab.

About Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry’s broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the AI era.
 

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud offers a powerful, optimized AI stack—including AI infrastructure, leading models like Gemini, data management capabilities, multicloud security solutions, developer tools and platform, as well as agents and applications—that enables organizations to transform their business for the Agentic Era. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

About SHI International
SHI International is a $16 billion transformational technology solutions integrator serving the needs of more than 17,000 corporate, enterprise, public sector and academic customer organizations around the world. It helps companies achieve business goals through the use of technologies ranging from software licensing and end user computing devices to innovative cloud and edge solutions. With over 7,000 employees worldwide, SHI is the largest Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) in the U.S.

About Learfield
Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative revenue generation solutions, student-athlete marketing initiatives, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions. 

Media contacts:
University of Texas Athletics: John Bianco, john.bianco@athletics.utexas.edu, 512-471-1346

Longhorn Sports Properties/Learfield: Tammy Purves, tammy.purves@learfield.com, 404-932-3266

McCombs School of Business: Judie Kinonen, Judie.Kinonen@mccombs.utexas.edu, 409-356-3324

Dell Technologies: Lauren Mauro, media.relations@dell.com.

Google Cloud: press@google.com

SHI: Kaitlynn Cooney, SHI-PR@walkersands.com

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SOURCE Learfield

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XbotGo Named World’s No. 1 Consumer Team Sports AI Tracking Camera Brand

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11 minutes ago

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October 23, 2026

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XbotGo recognized as the market leader in consumer team sports AI tracking technology based on 2025 unit sales.  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — XbotGo is proud to announce that it has officially been recognized as the World’s No. 1 Consumer Team Sports AI Tracking Camera Brand by China Insights Consultancy (CIC), a premier independent market research and consulting firm.  

The certification, issued in October 2026 under research registration number ⁠CIC-2026-985176⁠, is based on a comprehensive evaluation of global unit sales volume throughout the 2025 calendar year. The market research specifically measures consumer-grade camera devices designed for team sports, such as basketball and football, that leverage advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically track athletes and capture dynamic gameplay without manual operation.  

“This global market recognition is a powerful testament to the hard work of our engineering teams and the trust our community places in us every day,” said Dr. David Tan, CEO of XbotGo. “From everyday parents and local youth coaches to elite amateur athletes, our mission has always been to make professional-grade sports analysis and hands-free recording accessible to everyone. Being named the global sales leader proves that our vision is resonating worldwide.”

The XbotGo Falcon series combines ultra-sharp 4K resolution, intelligent multi-player tracking, instant highlight creation, and seamless livestreaming capabilities into a compact, subscription-free device. By eliminating the need for a dedicated camera operator, XbotGo empowers teams and families to preserve and analyze every pivotal moment effortlessly.

To learn more about the XbotGo Falcon and explore its award-winning AI tracking technology, visit xbotgo.com.

About XbotGo

XbotGo was founded in 2021 by Dr. David Tan—a computer vision expert, hardware innovator, and devoted soccer dad. Like every parent on the sidelines, he found traditional cameras either too complex or too costly to capture his child’s moments on the field. That frustration sparked a vision: to make sports recording accessible to all through AI. Today, XbotGo is a global AI sports technology company owned by Blink Tech, headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, with R&D centers across Silicon Valley, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Suzhou.

Media Contact:
XbotGo
Gabriel Roxas
PR@xbotgo.com

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DataBeyond Showcases PICKINGMAN in Global Livestream from Operating Waste-Sorting Facility

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11 minutes ago

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October 23, 2026

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DONGGUAN, China, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — DataBeyond showcased PICKINGMAN, its embodied AI robot for mixed municipal solid waste sorting, during the robot’s first global public livestream at 8 a.m. Beijing time on October 22. The broadcast took place at the Liaobu Municipal Solid Waste Integrated Treatment Center in Dongguan.

Built for Waste-Sorting Conditions

The broadcast demonstrated the robot working on an operating sorting line, highlighting the application of embodied AI to demanding industrial tasks involving mixed materials, dirty conditions and repetitive manual labor. PICKINGMAN began operating at the facility on September 22.

PICKINGMAN features dual arms with a total of 14 degrees of freedom, IP65-rated dust and water protection, and a maximum picking rate of 3,600 picks per hour. Designed to support continuous 24/7 operation, it can sort recyclables including PET bottles and trays, PP containers, PE items, aluminum cans and glass. It coordinates perception, decision-making and motion control to identify and pick target materials on a moving conveyor.

Project Results

Jointly developed by DataBeyond and Guangdong Dongshi Environment Co., Ltd., the Liaobu project combines robotic picking with AI optical sorting and other processing equipment. According to project data, the complete sorting line can process 50 metric tons of mixed municipal solid waste in four hours, achieving approximately 35% waste reduction and 25% resource recovery. Previously, sorting recyclables from the same volume required four skilled workers working for eight hours.

The integrated line separates recyclables for downstream recovery before residual waste is compressed and sent for further treatment, connecting resource recovery with existing waste management operations.

Workforce Benefits and Next Steps

For operators facing recruitment and retention challenges, robotic picking offers an alternative to repetitive manual sorting. The project aims to reduce workers’ direct contact with waste and enable personnel to focus on equipment inspection, production coordination and other technical roles.

“During the livestream, we identified areas where the robot still needs improvement,” said DataBeyond’s Mo Zhuoya. “Bridging the gap between R&D and industrial deployment requires engineering experience. We will accelerate product iteration and conduct longer global livestreams.”

About DataBeyond

DataBeyond develops AI-powered optical sorting equipment and robotic solutions for recycling and solid waste processing. The company integrates AI and multisensor technologies to improve material separation and support resource recovery.

Media Contact

Felix WU
marketing@databeyond.com

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SOURCE DataBeyond

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